All In The FamilyAlternate Ending
by Tracy Winston
Summary: Alternate ending to the episode where Carter and Lucy were attacked.


  
Title: All In the Family-Alternate Ending  
Author: Tracy Winston  
Rated: PG  
Spoilers/Timeframe: All In the Family, of course! :)  
Summary: Alternate ending to the episode where Carter and Lucy were attacked.  
Feedback: Yes, please do! I'm here at DrLucyKnight@aol.com  
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Doing the stitching on the recently deceased Lucy Knight, Romano saw Weaver coming in the room out of the corner of his eye. "I had to close her chest." With some assistance from Kerry, he finished. Looking at her young, innocent face one last time, Kerry reached down and lifted the sheet over Lucy's head, giving her a final feeling of death.  
  
At that, Carter shook awake in his hospital bed. Looking around, he realized that he must have dreamt it. 'God, it seemed so real. Did that really happen?' Doctor Benton, who was nearby doing a check-up on Carter and the equipment they had him hooked up to, turned at Carter's awakening.   
  
"Carter? Something wrong?"  
  
He took a second, catching his breath, before answering him. "A dream; a *terrible* dream."  
  
"That seems normal; it's probably just induced by some post-traumatic stress." The look on Carter's face seemed to show that his explanation didn't make him feel any better. Not really used to being the sensitive one, Benton seemed hesitant to ask what was best for him to say. "You want to talk about it?"  
  
He started to shake his bead, but then stopped. 'I've got to find out if it really happened.' He licked his lips to get them moist, then started. "How's Lucy?"  
  
"Well, since she had lost more blood than you, her surgery was more complicated. After having a CT scan, Corday found a pulmonary embolism. She put in a Greenfield filter and reversed the heparin that ended up causing a lot of access blood. In doing so, they almost lost her, but luckily Romano and Corday were able to prevent that."  
  
Carter sighed in relief. 'Thank God it was just a dream. I would have hated myself for the way I've treated her,' he thought. Not letting himself wonder for a second longer, he asked Benton where she was.  
  
"She's down the hall in recovery."  
  
Upon hearing this, he went to sit up. Even the flash of pain that raced through him and the look he was getting from his old teacher wouldn't keep him from seeing Lucy. "I want to go see her."  
  
'I thought that she'd be the one to get him up, no matter how bad his back hurts.' "Sure, let me help you with that." Going over to the right side of the bed, he took his arm, and got him to a standing position. To the new sensation of standing on his stiff legs and aching back, Carter let out a groan. "Here," Benton reached over to get the wheel chair that he had set up for him right before he woke up, and moved it over to the bed. Using both of his arms to steady Carter, he gently placed him in the chair. "Just remember, Lucy's been through just as much as you have, and more, so just make sure not to keep her too long. She might not even be up yet."  
  
He flashed Benton a look that told him that he knew what he was doing, and with that, he wheeled down the hall as fast as his tired arms could to Lucy's room.  
  
It being so early in the morning, there wasn't anyone else in the hall to slow him down--not that he would have stopped anyway--so he got there in no time. Once inside, he let out a sigh of relief. Instead of seeing her laying limp on a gurney with a sheet over her, he saw her calmly breathing while she slept on one of the hospital's beds. 'I hope she's having good dreams--anything better than what I had.' As quietly as he could, Carter came up close to the left side of her bed. 'Should I wake her? I wouldn't want to keep her from any well deserved sleep, but I've got to know that she's really there.' Finally, he decided to wake her, no matter how much she might hate him for it. He lifted his right hand up to her forehead to push away a stray lock of hair.  
  
As much as he had said otherwise before and after what had occurred in exam six, Carter had strong feelings for Lucy. If he hadn't been so afraid of what those feelings had meant all those months ago, he would have discovered that deep down he loved her. At the time, she had been his student, and for him to show them or act upon them would have gotten them both in trouble.   
  
But now, things were different. Lucy was probably going to be in psyche by the end of the year, because of how well she had been when she had rotated there. But she had come back-maybe that meant that she wanted to stay in the ER....  
  
~^~^~^~^~^~  
  
While Carter thought over his feelings for Lucy, she started to come out of the dream she was having and noticed some source of warmth on her cheek. 'Mmm, there's something new. Someone's hand-I wonder who. It sure feels nice, almost makes me forget the pain in my chest-I'm sure they had to crack me. But whose hand is that? Seems familiar, almost like... oh God, almost like Carter's! I *should* wake up so that I can see if it is John, er, Doctor Carter, but it feels so nice. Oh, hell, I'll just go ahead and let him know that I'm awake.' Slowly, she opened her eyes. She swallowed a few times before she tried to talk-who knows how long they had had that traek in there earlier. After a minute, she smiled and said, "Carter, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you still be in bed?"  
  
"I know very well what to do about my heath. That's why Benton stuck me in this wheelchair. But I didn't come here to talk about me. I came here to hear about you."  
  
She cantered her head. "That's sweet. Actually, I'm feeling better than I should, considering all that's happened." To that he nodded. There was something about the way that he was looking at her that made her think something was wrong. 'The man almost died, just like you did, Lucy, so cut him some slack. But that look... there's got to be something up.' "But what about you? You look like your best friend died."  
  
"She almost did."  
Her head went back to the way it had been. 'Okay, I wasn't ready for *that* response.' She placed her left hand over the one that he had placed down by her side. "John, what is it?"  
  
'Not now; this can wait until she gets a bit better.' He shook his head. "It doesn't matter-not now anyway. We're both safe, and that's all that matters."  
  
Lucy opened her mouth to object, but quickly shut it; he would tell her in his own time. After that, they both sat there, looking into each other's eyes, each saying more than words ever could. And with them both having a calm, peaceful few seconds together, someone came in. Upon hearing the door hinges move, Carter quickly moved his hand back to his chair, and Lucy placed hers in her lap. But the sight of their handholding was not missed by Elizabeth Corday.  
  
Smiling at the sight of the two of them trying to hide their feelings, Elizabeth acted as though she hadn't seen a thing. "It's good to see you up and about, Carter. I'll just be a moment while I check on Lucy's vitals." She then proceeded to write down the read-outs on the monitors that they had Lucy hooked up to.  
  
"How long do you think I'll have to be up here?" Lucy had a pretty good idea that if the people downstairs had their say in it, they would insist that she be stuck in that bed for a month. But if Elizabeth had any influence in it, Lucy wanted to try and convince her to let things go her way. Being a medical student, she knew how seriously she had been affected by the attack, but that also meant that she understood what she could and could not handle.  
  
"Oh, I'm not really sure. We'll have to run some more tests, make sure that everything's as it should be, but I'm sure you'll be back to doing your rounds in no time." Finishing her notes and smiling at the two, she went to leave. As she reached the door, she turned. "And Carter?" Catching him off-guard, his head quickly turned toward her. "Make sure you don't keep her too long. You both need to rest up." She then left.  
  
Carter was surprised again when he heard the unfamiliar sound of Lucy's laughter. "What?"  
Laughing for only a second longer due to the pain in her sides, she said, "You should have seen your face; it was classic. I think it was the greatest mix of "What just happened?" and "What are *you* doing here?"  
  
"I just wasn't expecting anyone to join us."  
  
"Well, they're all worried about us. That would only be normal after what happened." She paused while in thought. "What do you think happened to Mr. Sobriki?"  
  
He cringed at the reminder of the man that had almost taken their lives. "I'm not sure-I'll go and ask someone."  
  
'I didn't want him to leave, but I guess he has to get rest too.' With hopeful eyes she looked back up at him. "Come back soon?"  
  
He took her hand one final time and gave it a squeeze. "Of course."  
  
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~  
  
Should I write a second part to this story? I need your opinion! You can reach me at DrLucyKnight@aol.com  



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